1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle display apparatus in which partition members, each including a window portion, are disposed in front of a display screen of a liquid crystal display panel or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle display apparatus having a structure that allows the partition members to be arranged in various ways.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle display apparatuses, which are mounted in front of a driver's seat of a vehicle, include mechanical gauges such as a speedometer, a tachometer, a fuel gauge, and a coolant temperature indicator. Recently, attempts have been made to mount a display panel, such as a liquid display device, in a vehicle display apparatus and display images of such gauges on a display screen of the display panel.
However, when only images of the gauges are displayed, the gauges do not look stereoscopic because the display screen is flat. As a result, it may be difficult to see the individual gauges intuitively.
Japanese Patent No. 4648681 describes a vehicle display apparatus including a ring-shaped display partition member disposed in front of a liquid crystal display. A lens is fitted into the display partition member. A tachometer is displayed in an area of the liquid crystal display surrounded by the display partition member. The display partition member can be moved in front of the liquid crystal display using a movement mechanism. The display of a tachometer can be moved together with the movement of the display partition member.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-107482 describes a vehicle display apparatus including two real meters disposed in front of a liquid crystal display. The real meters each include a ring and a pointer that moves in the ring. A scale, to which the pointer points, is displayed in a region of the liquid crystal display surrounded by the ring of the real meter. The real meters can be folded away in the display apparatus so that the real meters may not be seen in front of the liquid crystal display. At that time, various pieces of information other than the scale can be displayed on the liquid crystal display.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 4648681 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-107482, a display can be made stereoscopic by disposing a ring-shaped three-dimensional member in front of a liquid crystal display panel, and a gauge can be made to be intuitively seen by displaying a scale in a region surrounded by the ring-shaped member.
However, with the vehicle display apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 4648681, one ring-shaped display partition member disposed in front of the liquid crystal display can move only a small distance in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the displayed contents cannot be changed in various ways.
The vehicle display apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-107482 has a structure such that the real meters are folded away in the display device so as to be retracted. Therefore, the display apparatus has a large depth and is impractical.